On This Day

Let's talk about normal things.

The high school had a concert last night. The grocery store has a sale on blackberries. My neighbor has a new puppy. One of my students learned to zip her coat. The legislative session in Annapolis has begun.

Let's talk about happy memories.

That time Dennis Lane said hello to me at Starbucks and made me feel important. The March Fourth concert at the Lakefront. Tom Coale standing on the steps at Portalli's and rejecting cynicism. The outdoor Oakland Mills food give away staffed by neighbors for neighbors. The evening a friend had the audacity to have a beer and pizza summit about race.

Let's play the music that always gets us through.

I sing to use the Waiting
My Bonnet but to tie
And shut the Door unto my House
No more to do have I

Till His best step approaching
We journey to the Day
And tell each other how We sung
To Keep the Dark away. 

-- Emily Dickinson

Let's light a candle, then: pass the light.